This post will serve as a reminder for what to look out for when implementing an ABM campaign

Let’s discuss the top 5 ABM mistakes –

ABM Mistake #1 – Ignoring accounts selection methodology

I am going to state the obvious! Account Based Marketing is all about “accounts” or “prospects”.

Meaning, if you have a great strategy BUT don’t have the right accounts, you will not see the desired results.

Work on developing a detailed strategy to select the right and most relevant accounts. There are many different methods or strategies that companies and business put to use in order to select the best accounts.

While some businesses specifies each criterion (for example, company size, designation etc) others pick up accounts that already use a product that is similar to theirs.

Whatever strategy you decide to implement, there are a few things that you cannot afford to miss –

Focus on accounts that can give you higher ROI, meaning, accounts that can land you higher than average deals.

Focus on accounts that perfectly fit your buyer persona. Meaning, you need to figure out your accounts pain points and see if your solution is a great fit.

Assessing competitors customer base

If you are guilty of making this ABM mistake, start by identifying the right accounts for your next ABM campaign.

ABM Mistake #2 Focusing on your existing database

It is important to analyze and gather leads outside of existing database.

There are many list building agencies that you can outsource this work to. They have a clear process in place to research on new companies, gather, analyze and verify leads before they hand it to you.

Just give them a detailed criterion and they can work wonders! (like, we do for our clients!)

This gets us to our next point, using unclean database

ABM Mistake #3 Using unclean or bad database

Let’s assume you ran an account based marketing campaign but did not fetch results. After a few months, you realize that the company you were targeting made several changes and the influencers you targeted have either changed their roles or left the organization

People change jobs, change roles, companies change the structure, and a lot of things keep changing.

Your data is good only if it regularly cleaned and updated.

Did you know that a study by DiscoverOrg found that sales and marketing departments lose approximately 550 hours and as much as $32,000 per sales rep from using bad data?

We have already discussed how lack of coordination between sales and marketing teams can damage your campaign results.

To quote Engagio, “In traditional demand generation, marketing throws leads over the fence for sales to chase. In ABM there is no fence. The collaboration is close, constant, and totally focused on defined, account-specific objectives.”

In fact, it is essential that all the relevant teams participates and contributes to the campaign.

After all, in Natasha’s words, if different parts of your organization are working in silos, it will prevent the sharing of Target Account contacts and relationships – or lead to misaligned information on account progression; causing campaigns to fall short.

There you go!

If your sales and marketing teams are not aligned and coordinated, work towards it before you launch your next ABM campaign.

ABM Mistake #5 Not personalizing content at each level

It is no surprise that personalization is important at every step of marketing and sales.

Remember, the entire focus on ABM campaign is to narrow down the challenges and pain points of a specific type of businesses and then engage the decision makers with personalized content

If your content is generic and non-targeted, you might save money today but in the long run, you are losing out on huge chunks of money.

According to Marketo, 79% of consumers say they are only likely to engage with an offer if it has been personalized to reflect previous interactions the consumer has had with the brand.

Look

ABM works when communications and content are personalized and customized to suit your target audience.

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Author Vikas Bhatt

Vikas is the co-founder of OnlyB2B ITES Pvt Ltd and a Demand Generation cum Data Cleansing Expert. He has 10+ years of experience in B2B Lead Generation, Data Mining, and Content Syndication.
Say hi on vikas.bhatt@only-b2b.com

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Only-B2B.com is a B2B demand generation powerhouse headquartered in San Francisco with operating centers in India. We help companies who are in constant search for business leads to make their marketing campaign a success. With us, you will experience a great blend of creativity and professionalism along with passion for what we do.

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How to Get Better at B2B Lead Generation
B2B Lead Generation is one of the most challenging part is what all the marketers agree upon. Strategies used in B2B lead generation evolve as companies gain new insights into what does and doesn’t work.